COMICS: Wed. 2/9/05 continued

Inspired by Fred Hembeck's 100 things he likes about comics, and Alan David Doane's incredible pictorial on same, good ol' Mikey Sterling has announced he will also be compiling a list of his 100 favorite comics-related things, to be published on Valentine's Day (awww!). And he has suggested the rest of us comics bloggers do likewise. Well, I'm going to give it a shot. I don't have a scanner, and most of my comics are difficult to get to for research, but I'll see if I can do the subject justice through mere words and my hopefully not-too-faulty memories. Why not give it a try yourself?

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Young Avengers: I liked the opening conversation between JJJ, Kat Farrell, and Jessica Jones, but however well-written and funny it was, I got to thinking, "Enough's enough. Show, don't tell." I thought Heinberg'd never get to actually showing us the Young Avengers in action. And then, when he did, it got kind of lame. Above and beyond the supreme lameness of their names. The action was poorly presented, the dialogue was hokey, the conflict between the team members was forced and phony. At least nobody said, "Welcome to the Y.A., bitch!" I may give the next issue a try, I may not.

Fables: I loved this Hollywood story. Most intriguing. I can't wait to see how making these movies is benefiting Jack.

Jubilee: So, what, is it over? Is this the final issue? Pretty damn abrupt and unsatisfactory end. Was it always meant to be a mini-series? Whatever. The bad fill-in artist didn't help, either.

The Punisher: The various plot threads are finally making sense to me. Two fantastically brutal sequences here, with Frank pounding his pint-sized enemy against a desk like a rag doll ("I'm twisting his leg off like a drumstick when I realize I'm frightening the kid"), and Fury whipping a superior officer to shreds with his belt buckle. I like Frank's (comparatively) gentle interactions with the little girl -- "What do you never do?" "Play with guns...?" "That's right." And the cliffhanger ending -- talk about upping the ante! This storyline has been such a welcome relief from that last disappointing one.

The Walking Dead: I'm sick of not being able to tell one character from another. Either this book needs a new artist, or it needs to start including a cast page every issue, or I'm going to drop the monthlies and wait for the trades. That said -- that was a hellishly brutal ending.

The Incredible Hulk: I don't really know what's going on here, but I like it. I mean, he actually said, "Hulk is strongest one there is!" God bless Peter David.

Batman: The Man Who Laughs: It was decently written, with cool, creepy art, but it's completely inessential. If you're going to release a prestige format book about the Joker, you should at least have something new to say about him.